{"id":64,"date":"2017-06-15T13:00:40","date_gmt":"2017-06-15T13:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jamestaylorquartet.co.uk\/jtq\/?p=64"},"modified":"2018-09-27T13:39:39","modified_gmt":"2018-09-27T13:39:39","slug":"all-music-is-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jamestaylorquartet.co.uk\/jtq\/2017\/06\/15\/all-music-is-one\/","title":{"rendered":"All Music Is One"},"content":{"rendered":"

All Music Is One
\nSpirituality and Artistic Expression in James Taylor Quartet\u2019s The Rochester Mass<\/h3>\n<\/div>

\u201cI think it\u2019s an album that people will still speak about in ten years\u2019 time because it\u2019s so odd\u201d, James Taylor of the British jazz-funk band the James Taylor Quartet (JTQ) expressed to me as we sat on his balcony overlooking the River Medway, just a stone\u2019s throw away from Rochester Cathedral where Taylor frequently worships.<\/p>\n

The album to which he referred, and on which our discussion was based, was the innovative and unique The Rochester Mass (2015). The oddness of the album was fashioned through the collaboration between JTQ and the Rochester Cathedral Choir: The Rochester Mass was the culmination of a relationship which began in 2013 with a concert at Rochester Cathedral. The fusion of JTQ\u2019s well-known jazz-funk sound with the voices of the choir established its strangeness even further through Taylor\u2019s setting of Latin text from the liturgical mass and his experimentation with classical music. The collaboration brought together diverse traditions to create a musical melting pot in which new possibilities were formed. I delve into the strange sound world of the album, gaining an understanding of what made this fusion of styles so unique and innovative. Beyond its musical qualities, the origins of the collaboration in Taylor\u2019s spiritual experience, and his intentions for the album to be an \u201cartistic statement\u201d, endow The Rochester Mass with particular significance.
\nJames Taylor has spearheaded his Quartet since the break-up of his former band The Prisoners in 1986. The Prisoners was firmly cemented in the \u2018mod\u2019 revival scene,2 and performed in venues like the 100 Club on Oxford Street which was known for performances by punk-rock bands. Taylor explained that their gigs were attended by mods, punks and psychobillies, and strongly emphasised the working-class roots of this scene. JTQ adopted this fanbase and gained success with the release of their first album Mission Impossible (1987) which featured funk arrangements of 1960s film songs, played in a rough, up-tempo and punk-like style, with the prominent and distinctive sound of Taylor\u2019s Hammond organ.<\/p>\n

The \u2018do-it-yourself\u2019 punk aesthetic dictated the band\u2019s approach to recordings and ensured its reputation as a highly-energised live outfit. \u2018Blow Up\u2019, the album\u2019s first single, was championed by NME and John Peel, and appeared on Peel\u2019s \u2018Festive Fifty\u2019 chart for 1987 the band was heavily involved in the \u2018indie\u2019 scene, particularly in Manchester, and played at venues like The International and The Boardwalk. JTQ was closely linked with the Acid Jazz style which emerged at the end of the 80s, characterised by its mix of jazz, soul, funk and disco; the band took advantage of this association with albums which incorporated horns and vocalists. Commercial success came with a top-thirty position in the UK charts for Supernatural Feeling (1993), whilst In The Hand of the Inevitable (1995) remains the band\u2019s biggest selling album. JTQ took steps away from the mainstream music industry towards the end of the 90s and now mostly perform in high-profile jazz venues like Ronnie Scott\u2019s and at jazz festivals in the Mediterranean.<\/p>\n

The Rochester Mass planted its seed when Taylor began to worship frequently at Rochester Cathedral around the time of his father\u2019s illness: the album is dedicated to his father who passed away in 2013. Taylor explained the solace he found in attending cathedral services and listening to the choir: \u201cI couldn\u2019t experience (my father\u2019s illness) and so I lost myself in the church music and that opened up whole vistas of beautiful music that I didn\u2019t even know existed\u201d. During this time, Taylor also joined Rochester Choral Society with which he sang choral music and became interested in \u201cthat whole musical world\u201d. The influence of classical music inspired his 2013 album, Closer to the Moon, in which he explored new sounds with instruments like the harp, celeste, vibes, tubular bells and other orchestral-based percussion.4 Although Taylor\u2019s experience of choral and classical music fueled his musical creativity, he expressed that the desire to write a mass and collaborate with the cathedral choir grew from more of a philosophical concept than a musical idea: \u201cthere\u2019s something in the message of the church\u2026that would be really welcome in modern life\u201d. Taylor sought to spread the spirituality he had gained whilst listening to the choir through presenting his music alongside the sounds of the choral tradition.<\/p>\n

The combination of the cathedral choir with JTQ\u2019s jazz-funk sound positions the album as part of the overlapping sacred and secular musical expressions prevalent in jazz and other African-American musical styles, particularly gospel music. The music of the black church in the United States has influenced and been influenced by popular music throughout the twentieth century. In Spirits Rejoice! Jazz and American Religion, Jason Bivins argues that \u201cjazz has not just been in conversation with religious developments in the United States, but shaped and drawn on them as more than simply their musical accompaniment\u201d.5 Many Jazz players believe in the intimacy between the music they play and religion, subscribing to a belief in music\u2019s ability to enable musicians to \u201cencounter some kind of musical enlightenment or becoming\u201d. Duke Ellington\u2019s Sacred Concerts had a similar origin to The Rochester Mass, as an idea which emerged from the death of Ellington\u2019s parents. The Sacred Concerts involved original compositions performed by Ellington\u2019s band in numerous sacred and secular venues around the world between 1965 and 1973. They were developed out of Ellington\u2019s deep religious beliefs and represented his personal statement concerning universal themes of freedom, love, family and an interdenominational belief in God.<\/p>\n

For Taylor, the spirituality of jazz was lost when the music crossed the Atlantic to Britain and established itself in the conservative middle-classes. The musician sought to reinvigorate a sense of spirituality into British jazz through the sound of cathedral choristers: \u201c(the Anglican cathedral) is our church, this is us being spiritual…\u201d Although African-American music has pervaded the musical expression of some Christian denominations in Britain, the music of the Anglican church, particularly cathedral music, has remained largely classically-based; in addition, the chorister sound has very rarely been drawn on by popular music styles. Rochester Cathedral Choir forms part of a sacred choral tradition in Britain which dates back to the seventh century; the cathedral choir at Rochester traces its roots back to the cathedral\u2019s foundation in AD 604. Cathedral choirs are renowned for the distinctive sound of young choristers, and provide music for daily liturgical services, including evensong, matins, and the Eucharist mass from which Taylor took the Latin text for The Rochester Mass. 9 The music sung at these services is heavily embedded in the classical music tradition, with a large repertoire of canticle settings and masses extending back to the fifteenth century.<\/p>\n

The sacred music of twentieth-century composers, however, was often inspired by popular music styles, particularly jazz. More recent examples include Will Todd\u2019s Mass in Blue (2003) and Bob Chilcott\u2019s A Little Jazz Mass (2006). These masses differ greatly from Taylor\u2019s The Rochester Mass: Chilcott\u2019s and Todd\u2019s masses are notated and are performed from this basis.<\/p>\n

Despite being written primarily for the purpose of concert performance, these masses are also suitable for liturgical use due to their need for only a small number of instrumental forces. Although The Rochester Mass was notated \u2013 purely for the aid of the choir \u2013 the musical \u2018work\u2019 exists primarily in the form of the recorded album. Taylor\u2019s mass was also not intended to be used in a liturgical setting: the movements of the mass are presented out of order. The usual order of Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus and Agnus Dei is displaced and movements are repeated more than once.<\/p>\n

The significance of The Rochester Mass, in part, lies in the disparities between the performance practices of JTQ and Rochester Cathedral Choir. The punk aesthetic of JTQ\u2019s jazz-funk sound appears to be at extreme odds with the tradition of classical music prevalent in Anglican cathedral choirs. One of the most important qualities of this project, as Taylor was keen to stress, was its collaborative nature. Taylor emphasised that the fusion of disparate traditions meant that \u201cthere was never gonna be anything but a lot of compromise\u201d. He highlighted this point with his belief that \u201cthe real key to what made (the album) a success musically was the kids and their spirit\u201d. A number of significant questions arise from a consideration of this unique pairing: how did these different styles mould and transform each other in the collaboration? In what ways did the incorporation of choral voices influence Taylor\u2019s music? How was the composition process shaped by the need for his musical ideas to be translated into notation for the choir to read? To what extent did the use of notation lessen the spontaneity and punk aesthetic of JTQ\u2019s approach to performing and recording? How important was the Latin text in writing the music?
\nThe collaboration between JTQ and Rochester Cathedral Choir began a couple of years before the album\u2019s release. The first performance took place on 22nd June 2013; the collaboration continued in 2014 with performances at Queen Elizabeth Hall and Rochester Cathedral. These concerts were used as musical testing grounds in which to gain a sense of the possibilities of the collaboration. Taylor explained that there was a lot of experimentation with many ideas tried and tested but they mostly ruled out the ideas that would not work. One of the biggest compromises for Taylor was that he felt the sound of the Hammond organ, his trademark instrument, did not compliment the sound of the treble line: he replaced the Hammond with the more \u201cethereal\u201d sound of the Fender Rhodes.<\/p>\n

The concert in 2013 was a simple collaboration, using the cathedral girls\u2019 choir to sing the melodies of Taylor\u2019s songs; the concerts in 2014 featured the full cathedral choir singing arrangements which were more fully worked out. Taylor adapted a song from Closer to the Moon called \u2018Nightwalk\u2019, adding the words of the \u2018Kyrie\u2019 to the song\u2019s melody and writing additional choral parts. The contrafactum approach undertaken with the \u2018Kyrie\u2019 was also adopted for \u2018Sanctus Part One\u2019 and \u2018Agnus Dei Part Two\u2019. These tracks adhere to the band\u2019s traditional jazz-funk sound and remain closely bound to the songs from which they were adapted. With the voices replacing instrumental parts, many of the vocal lines are extremely rhythmic and the melodies are occasionally angular. The Latin text often took a secondary role in the composition of the album: in addition to the movements being presented out of their liturgical order, the words are often obscured by the instrumental-style writing.<\/p>\n

In contrast to the contrafactum songs, \u2018Sanctus Part Two\u2019 reveals Taylor\u2019s sound world at its most strange: the track presents elements of different styles together in a way which allows them to fight alongside each other in constant conversation. The movement was composed entirely at the piano and later arranged for the choir and band. The opening of the song was inspired by Benjamin Britten\u2019s Missa Brevis (1959): the movement begins with dissonance and dramatic tension, followed by resolved ascending sequences. After the opening choral entries, the instruments of the band fight for prominence through improvisatory motifs, whirling around and responding to the movements and gestures of their counterparts. Taylor explained his desire to convey a kind of \u201ctrippy\u201d and \u201ctranscendental\u201d feel which he drew from the minimalism of Steve Reich. In the arrangement of the song for the band, Taylor sought to imitate the sound of an orchestra: he explained that \u201cit was an attempt at something orchestral and symphonic\u201d. The movement is expansive in its scope, combining a number of contrasting sections and characterised by its constant building up and lessening of tension, switching between chordal passages and sections of unison melody, including a section for solo treble and electric guitar. The instruments and voices combine in a diverse array of rich and contrasting textures.
\nThe mass was performed at Queen Elizabeth Hall and Rochester Cathedral before the album was recorded on 6th July 2015. Taylor explained that \u201cby the time we came to record it\u2026it was gigged up and rehearsed and everyone knew what they were supposed to do\u201d. Taylor acknowledged that his band\u2019s usual spontaneous, punk aesthetic in the studio may have been compromised through the incorporation of the choir: the movements of the mass had been fully composed before entering the studio and there was very little room for manoeuvre creatively. This was partly because of a lack of time in the studio which required the tracks to be recorded quickly. There was still much space, however, for the incorporation of improvised solos, particularly on the Flugelhorn, Saxophone and Flute. One of the challenges during the improvised sections was the communication between Taylor and the choir\u2019s director of music. Communication was important throughout the recording session, and in the concerts, but took on particular importance during these sections when the choir was not singing. The unpredictable length of the improvisations required the director of music to be ready to bring the choir back in on its cue. Taylor argues that there was still a great deal of spontaneity despite the adherence to a script: \u201cit was pretty vibey in the studio\u2026we captured something exciting\u201d. The majority of the movements were recorded in a couple of takes with very few overdubs. The overdubs were often required for the re-recording of the choral parts. An issue arose in this process due to the desire of the choir not to wear headphones. While re-recording the choral parts, the band\u2019s track was played through speakers for the choir to sing with. The original recording of the band was picked up on the mics of the choir and ended up on the overdub. Taylor argued that this spillage of sounds into the wrong channels is often what makes a recording interesting and adds to the raw sound which he values in recordings.<\/p>\n

*
\nThrough the fusion of disparate traditions on The Rochester Mass, Taylor attempted to highlight divisions in society and offer a bridge between those divisions. The musician explained: \u201cI see the country as a bit lost and I see the church as having something to offer\u201d. For Taylor, the music of the church carries with it the church\u2019s spiritual message that all humans are the same. Taylor also sought to bridge divisions through his experimentation with classical music: he expressed his belief that \u201call music is one \u2013 and if you\u2019re really true to that then you can knock down barriers\u201d. Taylor asserted that music has the power \u201cto pull us together\u2026the wider you cast your net, the more chance you\u2019ve got of inclusivity\u201d. One of the ways Taylor believes society is divided is in terms of class: \u201cthe whole question about class goes through British society in such an interesting way and how it reveals its head in terms of music in its identity. And (The Rochester Mass) really addresses that…it is an attempt at saying \u2018music is one, humans are one\u2026let\u2019s cut the bullshit\u2019\u201d.<\/p>\n

Taylor also raised the issue of class divisions in an interview with Blues and Soul Magazine soon after the album\u2019s release:
\nIn England, society is massively divided. The upper classes, (classical music) is their thing, they\u2019re not here and we\u2019re not allowed there\u2026it\u2019s experimenting and questioning why society is divided in that way. If music can\u2019t sort that out, I think nothing can.<\/p>\n

Taylor\u2019s argument stems from the belief that genres are not simply defined by their particular musical sounds but are influenced to a large degree by cultural values and traditions. As Kevin Fellezs argues, genre is \u201ca logic through which ideas about race, gender and social class are created, debated and performed through musical sound and discourse\u201d. For the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, music is a mirror which reflects an individual\u2019s social standing: \u201cnothing more clearly affirms one\u2019s class, nothing more infallibly classifies, than tastes in music\u201d. Bourdieu believed that the ability to consume and acquire cultural capital, including music, relies on a corresponding embodied capital (dispositions) which is acquired through early socialisation and determined by one\u2019s class.13 Using Bourdieu\u2019s ideas, the authors of Culture, Class, Distinction argue that an understanding of culture is essential in order to establish the nature of class boundaries in contemporary Britain. According to the findings of their research, the musical field is characterised by contested positions and \u201cis the most
\nKaren Lawler, \u2018James Taylor Quartet: Chorus of approval\u2019, Blues and Soul, 2015, divided, contentious, cultural field\u2026\u201d Classical music has traditionally stood in opposition to popular and folk music, based primarily on class divisions \u2013 their research claims that \u201cclassical music evokes hierarchy and power: the ghostly memories of legitimate cultural capital\u201d. Culture, Class, Distinction asserts that classical music still carries \u201cloaded signifiers to the working classes\u201d and remains a markedly middle-class taste. Richard Peterson has offered a contradictory viewpoint, claiming a collapse of divisions between highbrow and lowbrow tastes with consumers in America instead becoming cultural omnivores, expanding their musical tastes across multiple genres.17 Although this may be true for a select few, there are key genre boundaries that are not crossed by listeners. As the research of Culture, Class, Distinction has shown: \u201cthe divide between contemporary and classical forms of music is rarely straddled\u201d.<\/p>\n

Returning to Taylor\u2019s statement in Blues and Soul, it is important to consider his thoughts in terms of JTQ\u2019s fanbase: what group constitutes the \u201cwe\u201d Taylor refers to and who are the \u201cthey\u201d that his group stands in opposition to? Where is the \u201chere\u201d that Taylor and his fans inhabit and where is the \u201cthere\u201d that he and his fans are not allowed? What audience did Taylor wish to reach with this album? JTQ\u2019s origins in the working-class London scene and the indie scene in Manchester seemingly stand in opposition to the nature of Taylor\u2019s current musical standing. The group frequently perform at the high-profile and highly sophisticated London jazz club Ronnie Scott\u2019s, which targets a middle-class audience. Taylor explained that \u201cRonnie\u2019s is an exclusive jazz joint where (the audience) spend fifty quid on a ticket and then they spend another hundred quid on dinner\u201d. The performance of jazz at Ronnie Scott\u2019s subscribes to the view of the music as \u201chigh art\u201d, positing a far more exclusive identity than many classical music venues. Taylor, however, argued that the seeds of his album originated in a working-class expression. Indeed, Taylor stands in a strange position in British jazz: he explained that he has always been on the outside, acting as \u201cthe enfant terrible of the jazz world, taking the micky out of it and punching it from underneath and trying to light little fires to change that whole world\u201d. Although The Rochester Mass stems from the band\u2019s origins in working-class scenes, the album perhaps carries less weight than Taylor desired due to JTQ\u2019s current position in the jazz world.<\/p>\n

The Rochester Mass was received extremely well in the press, including by national newspapers The Sunday Times and The Independent. Reviews emphasised the novelty of the collaboration and its innovative fusion of styles: Hifi Pig Magazine lauded Taylor \u201cfor having the guts and foresight to recognise the possibilities of this potentially unholy alliance\u201d. Another review saw the album as \u201ca noble attempt at doing something new\u201d and found it to be \u201ca rewarding and very interesting listen\u201d. Despite the additional positivity that jazz radio showed to the album, sales of the record were very few in comparison with previous JTQ releases. Taylor explained that this caused some tension with his record label: \u201cthey gave us 100% artistic freedom and then moaned about it because it didn\u2019t sell\u201d. Cherry Red Records asked Taylor to make another album of \u201cpure funk, jazz-funk, to offset what they lost on (The Rochester Mass)\u201d. Taylor\u2019s album is significant as an \u201cartistic statement\u201d: his spiritual experience in cathedral services inspired the innovative fusion of styles and traditions on The Rochester Mass. Beyond its spiritual expression, the album is also a personal statement of Taylor\u2019s links with the town of Rochester. Taylor explained: \u201cI was born in this town\u2026when I was a little boy, my mum used to take me to Rochester Cathedral\u2026\u201d Whilst The Rochester Mass was his personal statement, Taylor was very happy to produce a more \u201ccommercial\u201d album for his label, acknowledging that the dialectic between making art and making money characterises the nature of cultural production in the music industry: \u201cthat experimental side of things is where it\u2019s at and you need some sort of (financial) support to be able to do that\u201d. Taylor explained that performing at corporate events which earn the band a large sum of money allows for him to fund the projects which may not fare as well commercially.<\/p>\n

The Rochester Mass is the most recent example in the output of a band which has pushed the boundaries of jazz in Britain since the late 80s. Taylor explains that \u201cjazz was dead in the early 80s\u2026we repackaged the whole of British jazz \u2013 how the British music press looked at jazz \u2013 and said \u2018this is hip\u2019\u201d. While perhaps exaggerating the influence of JTQ and bands of their ilk on British jazz, the band\u2019s position on the edges of the mainstream music industry enabled Taylor to explore his musical creativity outside of the confines of genre categories. In Music Genres and Corporate Cultures, Keith Negus explains how genre is used as a marketing tool in the music industry to shape the creativity of musicians as well as the perceptions, expectations and listening habits of audiences. He argues that the music industry divides the \u201cpotentially fluid, multiple influences\u201d of musicians and their music into distinct and separate categories.21 Establishing a position on the outskirts of the industry allows for a greater degree of freedom from commercial pressures and the confines of genre categories, and thus allows
\nfor more opportunities to experiment with musical styles. The Rochester Mass emphasises the value of individual agency in pushing back against forces which seek to limit and categorise the creative output of musicians.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on the impact of The Rochester Mass, Taylor acknowledged that the album may not have fully conveyed the philosophical message which had inspired his work. The strange sound world of the mass was an \u201calienating\u201d factor which ensured its lack of record sales. Yet, Taylor has not lost hope that the album could still have a large impact in the future: \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s a dead album, I think it\u2019s such an enigma\u201d. The musician expressed his belief that jazz musicians will take inspiration from The Rochester Mass and begin to explore new musical ideas. Although that remains to be seen, Taylor continues to expand his musical creativity to form new and interesting sound worlds: his recent work with Audio Network, a company which sells music for advertising and films, has involved collaborations with orchestras and the fusion of his jazz-funk sound with classical styles. The collaboration with Rochester Cathedral Choir has also not yet reached its conclusion: Taylor has written a Latin Magnificat for the choir and the cathedral organ which is over an hour long. Looking forward to future projects, Taylor stated his uncertainty regarding his next steps: \u201cI don\u2019t know where I\u2019m going musically at the moment and I\u2019m not that bothered about it\u201d. Yet, the Hammond Organ player continues to \u201cpush the envelope\u201d in his various musical endeavours through his desire to explore new ideas and take inspiration from disparate traditions.<\/p>\n<\/div>

Playing til your fingers hurt<\/h4>\n<\/div>

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